the first wise one explained.
We all stepped closer to the chest,
eager
to see what was inside.
“Let’s hurry up and open it!” Trap said
impatiently. “I’m so curious, and my tummy’s
really
grumbling!”
Then he stepped up to the chest and
placed the sphere in one of
the two round
openings
in the middle.
We all held our breath,
waiting to hear the
clicking
sound of the
lock. Instead, the chest projected a
blue
ray of light
that spelled out this message:
“The chest of light will
open for you.
Just place the second
sphere here, too!”
The wise ones shook their heads.
“There are two keys!” the third one said.
“Our ancestors created
two
spheres, but
both were lost!”
We were all
disappointed.
“Then we came all this way for
nothing?”
Sally asked sadly.
Before anyone could reply, we heard a
cackle behind us.
“Oh, this is going to be good!”
We all turned around.
Black holey galaxies: It was
Black Star
,
captain of the
pirate spacecats
!
How did I recognize him, you might ask?
It’s simple: Every mouse in the
Cheddar
Galaxy
knows about the terrible pirate
spacecats and their ruthless captain, Black
Star. Plus, he has a
big black star
on his forehead! The pirate spacecats
love to invade different planets and steal
whatever
precious
treasures they
can find. They’re
feared
across the
galaxy!
I tried to contact Thea immediately. But
my helmet
microphone
seemed to be on
mute.
BLACK STAR
Captain of the pirate spacecats
Species:
Feline
Specialty:
Attacking alien
planets to hunt for riches and
treasures
Characteristics:
He’s cold-blooded,
but has aristocratic manners.
Defining Features:
A black star on his
forehead and foul breath that stinks like moldy sardines
“Don’t even
think
about trying to contact
your
spaceship
, Captain,” Black Star
growled into my ear. “It’s no use.”
Then he motioned to a particularly
vicious-looking member of his crew. The
spacecat brought in someone who looked
very
familiar
: It was Thea, and she was
tied
up!
Mousey meteorites!
The pirates had captured her!
P
i
r
a
t
e
s
p
a
c
e
c
a
t
s
!
H
u
h
?
How Should
I Put It?
“
Let her go right now, you
putrid and pugnacious pirates!
”
Trap shouted.
“Huh?” asked the spacecat.
Black Star rolled his eyes.
“He wants you to
release
the
prisoner,” he told his crew member. Then he
turned to Trap. “There’s no need to yell big
words. We didn’t come to this awful planet
to get our
tails
wet with you, spacemice.
Let her go, Galaxia!”
As soon as the
spacecat
untied her, Thea
filled us in on what had happened.
“Those pirates took me by complete
surprise,” she explained. “I didn’t have time
to sound the
alarm
. And I’m afraid they
destroyed
our spaceship!”
“Quiet!” Black Star growled. Then he
reached into his bag for something.
Holey craters
, what was that?
A lunar laser? A stellar space sword? A
meteorite slingshot?
I covered my eyes with my paws. Good-
bye, universe! I thought.
Thank goodmouse I was wrong: Black Star
pulled out the second sphere!
“Were you looking for this?”
he asked with a sneer.
The wise ones were
shocked.
“H-how did you get
that?” the third one
asked.
“Calm down, calm down, no need to get
excited,” Black Star began. “The story
is
simple
: I was returning from one of
our
—
how should I put it?
—
one of our
sightseeing voyages . . .”
At that, the other spacecats
burst out
laughing.
“Ha, ha, ha!” they chuckled. “Sightseeing!
That’s a good one, Captain!”
“
Quiet!
” Black Star yowled. “How
many times do I have to tell you not to
interrupt me?”
The four pirates immediately quieted
down.
“Now, where was I?” Black Star continued.
“Ah, yes. We were coming back from a
voyage
in the galaxy and I was going
through all the objects that the nice aliens we
met had
—
how should I put it?
—
given
to
us . . .”
“Ha, ha, ha!” the spacecats burst out.
“
Given
to us! Where do you come up
with such funny
jokes
, Captain?”
“
Quiiiieeeet!
” Black Star roared
again. “The next one who meows
without authorization will stay here
underwater —
forever
!”
Trembling with fear
,
the four pirates quieted down again.
“As I was saying,” Black Star continued,
“I found this
mysterious
sphere
among the various objects we had collected.
I didn’t know what it was, but the other day
it suddenly started to
shine
. It revealed a
map that led the way to
Aquarix
, and
now here we are!”
“
Of
course!
” Professor Greenfur exclaime
d.
“When Captain Stiltonix
activated
our
sphere, the
second
sphere was activated
as well!”
“Do you mean the spheres are designed
to force the owners of each object to meet
up?” Trap asked.
“
Yes,
exactly!
” Professor Greenfur confirmed.
“And the two spheres have to come together
in order to open the chest.”
“Well said, spacemouse!” Black Star said.
He extended his
paw
, and his
SHARP
claws glistened in the seawater. Then he
tapped poor
Professor Greenfur’s
helmet.
Click! Click! Click!
“Now
please
tell me, what do I need
to do to open this chest?” he asked with a
polite growl.
Professor Greenfur
shook
like a leaf.
“I . . . w-well . . . s-so . . .” the professor
stuttered.
Then the first wise one
spoke
up.
“Place the second sphere . . .”
“In the second opening
.
.
.” the second
wise one continued.
“And the chest will open!” concluded the
third wise one.
“Thank you, little aliens!” Black Star
purred
happily. He knew it didn’t hurt
to use
good manners
, even if he was
stealing
something that didn’t belong to
him!
Grab the Treasure!
All we could do was watch the pirate insert
the sphere into the chest.
Clack!
The key clicked into place and the chest
opened up.
A
blinding
light lit up the room.
Black Star had to cover his eyes with his
paw
as he peered inside.
“Mouse skulls and fish bones!” he
exclaimed happily. “There are dozens of
cosmostars
in here! I’ll sell these all over
the galaxy, and then I’ll be
rich!”
Then he turned to his crew.
“Come on,
Galaxia
,” Black Star said
to one of the pirates. “Get moving,
Flea
Face
. Grab the treasure and load it onto
our
spaceship
.”
Then he gave the rest of us a threatening
look.
“If you stay here quietly, I’ll leave you
alone,” he hissed menacingly. “I won’t pull a
single
hair out of your fur before I leave
with the treasure. But if you try to stop
me . . .”
“Th-then what?” I asked, my whiskers
trembling
.
He showed off his
sharp, shiny
claws.
“Then you can kiss your fur
good-bye,
spacemice!”
No one had the
courage
to move
a muscle. But even if we had been brave
enough to try to stop the pirates, what could
we have done? The citizens of Aquarix were
peaceful creatures, and there were many
more spacecats than there were spacemice.
We had to
save our fur!
So we watched
helplessly
as the
pirates loaded the
big
chest onto a trailer
that was tied to their
spaceship
.
Just before he closed the door to the
spaceship, Black Star turned back to us.
“Oh, how
rude
of me!” he purred.
“I almost forgot to thank you! It was a
pleasure
doing business with you. Hope
to see you all again soon!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”
Then the spaceship door slid closed and
the spacecats took off in a swirl of
bubbles
and
sand.
The wise ones were
devastated.
“Our
precious
cosmostars!” the first
one moaned.
“They are lost
forever
,” the second one
said sadly.
“What are we going to do now?” the third
one asked.
I felt
awful
. We had been so close
to helping the polpyx get their cosmostars
back, but instead we had unwittingly led the
pirates right to the
treasure
!
As we watched the pirates’ spaceship
zoom
farther and farther away, a
strong
current
made me lose my balance.
“Look up!” Thea shouted.
It was Lucas, the
gigantic
silverix
whale we had met during our trip. He had
emerged from behind a rock and was now
following
the pirate spaceship!
Unexpected
Help
Something
flashed
by me. Wait,
had I seen that correctly? I looked again.
Martian
mozzarella!
Benjamin and
Bugsy Wugsy were holding on to Lucas’s
fin!
The whale reached the pirate’s spaceship
in three quick tail
flaps
. Then Lucas
grabbed the spaceship in his gigantic fangs
and shook it from
left
to
right
and
up
and
down
. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the
pirates’ fur: They must have been feeling
very
seasick!
A moment later . . .
snap!
The rope that was pulling the trailer with
the chest broke, and the pirates’ spaceship
took off
at high speed.
SNAP!
I
t
h
a
p
p
e
n
e
d
l
i
k
e
t
h
i
s
.
.
.
I got a glimpse of Black Star’s face in the
porthole. He was growling
angrily
.
Great galaxies!
The spacecats were gone!
I hoped I never saw those
ferocious
felines again.
Lucas swam back to us and
gently
placed the chest in front of me. Then he very
delicately
lowered Benjamin and Bugsy
Wugsy from his fin. The rest of us rushed
over to the mouselings, gr
eeting them with
enormouse
hugs.
“Well done!” I told them. “How did you
do it?”
“We were out
playing
with
some polpyx when we saw the
pirates’ spaceship, so we
hid,” Benjamin explained.
“When we realized what
the spacecats were up to,
Bugsy Wugsy had the idea to ask
Lucas
for his help.”
“Amazing!” Sally said.
“Without you two, the treasure would
have been lost forever!” Thea added. “And
thank you, too, Lucas!”
The whale let out one of his whistles.
Sally’s invention translated for us:
“It was my pleasure,
spacemice
!”
Lucas
waved
good-bye with one fin
while Sally helped the
polpyx
get their
chest back. We all gathered around the
chest and admired the precious cosmostars
that
glowed
so brightly in the dark abyss.
The three wise ones approached me.
“
Captain Stiltonix
, the creatures of
Aquarix City thank you for coming here and
helping us find our cosmostars,” the first
one said.
“They are essential to the
survival
of
our species!” the second wise one added.
“According to our customs, when another
creature finds something of ours, he has the
right to keep
half
of it,” the third wise
one told us.
Trap’s eyes lit up
greedily
.
“Oh, that’s so kind of you —”
“But of course we
CANNOT accept!” I
interrupted, finishing my cousin’s sentence
for him. “We know how important these
stars are to
you
and your
planet
. They
belong here, not with us!”
As we turned to leave, I looked back at
Aquarix City: The polpyx’s capital was
now shining
brightly
thanks
to the cosmostars. What a
warm
and
welcoming
place!
O
u
r
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
h
a
d
b
e
e
n
a
g
r
e
a
t
s
u
c
c
e
s
s
!